Rabbi's Parable Teaches Self-Control Amidst Loss for Sukkot Joy

Rabbi Yaakov Glouberman's weekly segment for the Sukkot holiday shares a parable about Rabbi Michal of Zolochiv, who faced immense hardship but possessed a cherished heirloom: phylacteries inherited from his father. Despite extreme poverty, he refused to part with them. Shortly before Sukkot, a man arrived demanding a large sum for a beautiful etrog (citron), a key Sukkot ritual item.

Rabbi Michal, without hesitation, sold his precious phylacteries to afford the etrog. Upon returning home, overjoyed, he discovered his wife's distress. In her pain and anger over their financial struggles, she damaged the etrog by removing its pitom, rendering it ritually unfit. In that moment of shock and anguish, Rabbi Michal looked to the heavens and asked himself if he would also lose his temper and his spiritual world. He chose restraint, deciding not to get angry.

The parable's message, emphasized by Rabbi Glouberman, is that true strength lies not in possessions but in the ability to pause, choose restraint, and remember that kind words and self-control are invaluable. This self-mastery is presented as the path to achieving genuine joy during the Sukkot holiday, even when faced with devastating loss.